Inscription Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO)

Inscription Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,731 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $2,078,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth $669,400,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,725,700 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $4,257,024,000 after acquiring an additional 4,805,133 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valero Energy by 15,395.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,355,699 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $179,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346,950 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth $132,469,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Valero Energy during the 4th quarter worth $98,376,000. 78.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLO has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Valero Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $127.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $152.00 to $147.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Valero Energy from $165.00 to $155.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Valero Energy from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valero Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.88.

Valero Energy Stock Down 1.7%

VLO traded down $2.35 during trading on Thursday, reaching $139.42. 2,872,485 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,048,960. The stock has a market cap of $43.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.99. Valero Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $99.00 and a fifty-two week high of $167.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $124.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.58.

Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $28.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.54 billion. Valero Energy had a net margin of 0.72% and a return on equity of 6.30%. Valero Energy's revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valero Energy Corporation will post 7.92 EPS for the current year.

Valero Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 20th were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Valero Energy's payout ratio is 159.72%.

Valero Energy Company Profile

Valero Energy Corporation manufactures, markets, and sells petroleum-based and low-carbon liquid transportation fuels and petrochemical products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Refining, Renewable Diesel, and Ethanol.